Have you already seen this colour film of London in 1926?

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I hadn’t until yesterday.

But now I’m like Kevin Spacey and Stephen Fry – absolutely hooked.

It’s part of a series of films called The Open Road by Claude Friese-Greene.

The colour is thanks to a process developed by his father, William.

And it’s totally mesmerising …

Now – wonderful as the footage is – what’s it got to do with marketing?

Well, directly nothing.

But it did make me realise how much of London hasn’t changed.

And reminded me of a book written 3 years earlier.  Which thanks to the internet is almost more relevant now than ever.

I – of course – mean Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising.

If you haven’t read it you should.  And if you have, you should read it again.

It’s short, easy to read and will teach you a shed load.

You’ll learn about split testing, customer tracking and loyalty schemes.

Almost everything Hopkins talks about still applies today.

The biggest difference is we can collect our results at a speed Hopkins could only dream of.

If you do any marketing – especially online – it’s a must read.

You don’t just have to take my word for it though.  Here’s what David Ogilvy said about it:

Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life

Want your own copy?

You can Google it.  Or just go here and signup for Drayton Bird’s 51 Helpful Ideas.

Whichever you do – make sure you read it.